In general, the invention relates to controlling the automatic answering service of a telephone system. In particular, the invention relates to a method and apparatus by means of which the operation of the answering service can be adapted to the users"" varying needs in different usage situations.
Telephone systems use both automatic answering machines provided in connection with mobile terminals and centralised automatic answering services that are called voice mail systems. Particularly in mobile communication systems, it is advantageous to realise answering services in a centralised fashion in a telephone exchange maintained by an operator, or in some other arrangement which is permanently connected to the network. In a typical voice mail system, the users record in advance a chosen greeting message in the system memory by dialling a specific number reserved for this purpose and by dictating their message. When a certain subscriber is not reached by phone, and the incoming call is transferred to the voice mail system, the system plays the recorded greeting message to the caller and gives a chance to leave a message to the voice mail box of the person whom the caller tried to reach.
A drawback in the use of an ordinary voice mail system is that the caller does not know the duration of the probable lapse of time until the subscriber next time listens to the left messages. The subscriber may be unavailable only for a lunch break or a short meeting, or he may be away for several days. If the voice mail system could inform the caller as to when his message will be received, he could formulate the message accordingly.
Naturally the voice mail box subscriber can call up the voice mail system and dictate a new greeting message every time when he knows the next probable opportunity to listen to the messages in the voice mail box. This, however, is troublesome and sometimes impossible: the subscriber may be in a meeting or in a concert, where talking aloud is not permitted.
The object of the present invention is to introduce a method and required equipment for easily adapting the voice mail system to different operating modes.
The objects of the invention are achieved by recording in the voice mail system in advance several different greeting messages, which correspond to the different operating modes, and by automating the communication to the voice mail system regarding a change in the operating mode.
The method according to the invention is characterised in that it comprises steps where
in the terminal of a given subscriber, there are recorded at least two greeting messages, a first greeting message and a second greeting message, corresponding to at least two operating modes,
in the voice mail system there is received information as to in which operating mode the terminal of a given subscriber is set,
as a response to a call that is diverted to the voice mail system, there is played a greeting message chosen on the basis of the earlier received information as to in which operating mode the terminal of a given subscriber is set.
The invention also relates to a voice mail system and a telephone, characterised in that prior to selecting the greeting message of the voice mail system, the voice mail system obtains information as to in which operating mode the terminal is set.
According to the invention, a number of different operating modes can be defined for the subscriber""s terminal, in accordance with the availability of the subscriber. For each subscriber of the system according to the invention, the voice mail system includes several memory locations, and in each location, the subscriber can record a different greeting message. The recorded greeting messages correspond to the operating modes of the terminal. The voice mail system functions so that when it has received information of the operating mode of the terminal, it selects, among the recorded greeting messages, the message corresponding to said operating mode. When a given call is diverted to the voice mail system, the selected greeting message is played to the caller.
In order to make the selection of the appropriate greeting message in the voice mail system as easy as possible for the subscriber, the terminal is programmed so that when the operating mode changes, the terminal automatically communicates the new mode to the voice mail system, without any other user operations than what is required for switching the operating mode. In form, the automatic message of a change in the operating mode can be for instance a short message service (SMS) message, an unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) message, or a dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) message transferred during a normal call.
The operating mode of the terminal may also change while the terminal is outside the network coverage, in which case the automatic message cannot be communicated to the voice mail system. In this case, the correct procedure can be secured in many ways. According to one alternative, the voice mail system always acknowledges the received automatic communications by sending a defined message of acknowledgement to the terminal. If the acknowledgement is not received, the terminal tries, from time to time, to retransmit the same communication, until it is received, and the terminal obtains a message of acknowledgement. Another alternative is that the terminal sends to the voice mail system an automatic communication of the operating mode at regular intervals irrespective of whether the operating mode has changed or not. A third alternative is that the terminal sends to the voice mail system an automatic communication of the operating mode always when the terminal is switched on, when its location changes and/or when there are other changes in its operation. When receiving a communication describing the operation of the terminal, the voice mail system always checks whether the selected greeting message corresponds to the operating mode indicated by said communication, and switches the selected greeting message when necessary.